HOLLYOAKS fans were on the edge of their seats this week as the 1,000th episode placed the River Dee at the heart of a serial murder investigation.

The success of the seven-year-old Chester-based soap has helped boost tourism and trade in the city.

Ruth Davies, assistant economic division officer for Chester City Council, said: 'We have a good relationship with the Hollyoaks crew, who film quite often in the city, and we try to encourage them to maintain a positive image of Chester.

'I know that as a result we get a lot of visitors to come around the spots where they have been filming, such as the suspension bridge. The crews use a lot of cafes and bars so it is really good for boosting trade.'

Although film crews occasionally cordon areas off to shoot scenes, the city council says it causes minimum disruption.

City police officer Insp Geoff Williams said it does not affect normal police operations. 'Hollyoaks has not caused us any headaches,' he said.

'They contact us usually if they're likely to cause any difficulty on roads or crowd disruptions. We then assess the situation and if they require police officers we say how many they need and they pay for them.

'Officers are used entirely in addition to their normal duty or on their rest day so it does not affect the number of police officers on duty.'

The soap has promoted venues, bars and fashion shops, attracting a new generation of visitors to the city. Gerald Tattum, tourism development off icer for Chester, said: 'Hollyoaks has helped to promote Chester across Britain and the fact that it is now on most evenings has helped to raise the profile of the city.

'This kind of TV exposure is extremely valuable to marketing the city. We simply couldn't afford to advertise that regularly on TV.

'The programme has helped Chester in many ways and we would like to send them our best wishes on their 1,000th episode.'

Jo Hallows, senior producer, said: 'It's the people of Chester who help us to make everything run so smoothly.'